Disclaimer:
I do not own anything. All rights belong to R.A. Dick (Josephine Leslie)and 20thCentury Fox.

Also: thanks to all GAMM writers, both from the series and fan-fiction authors for publishing such wonderful stories; there is no attempt on my part to imitate any of these published works.

Summary: Candy never realized her mother had any regrets in her relationship with the Captain..until now…

The One Regret

"Where are they?" Captain Gregg said to Carolyn as he paced back and forth in front of the fireplace in the living room. "They should be here by now."

"Daniel, relax. Candy will be here with the baby any time now. There's nothing to worry about." She laughed at his concern, but he felt the warmth behind it.

"But what if something happened to them? What if she had trouble on the road? Or ran out of gas? Or…"

Carolyn got out of her chair and went over to her love, and took his hands in her own. "Daniel, everything is fine, trust me, and trust Candy. She would have called if something was wrong. We raised her right. True, she and her husband are new parents, but they will do just fine. They don't live that far away and they are perfectly able to drive from here to there."

"But she's driving by herself today.'

"Stop it. You're such a mother hen."

"I'm no such thing!" He drew himself up to his full height. "How dare you accuse me of such a thing?"

She laughed and kissed him, lightly at first, but unable to help herself, drew his head down for a lingering kiss. He was more than happy to comply and opened up his mouth to hers. They stood together; tasting each other for what seemed like only moments, but in truth must have been minutes, because they were startled out of their private universe when the front doors opened to admit a smiling Candy with a baby carry in her hand.

She stopped inside of the doorway and saw her parents necking in front of her, oblivious to her presence and smiled to herself. Some things just never seemed to change and she was glad of that. The two of them had given her and Jonathan a happy, stable childhood and showed them what true love really was and how powerful it could be. It was a knowledge and gift that most of her peers never had; they had never seen true love. It was unusual that the man she considered to be her Dad was actually a ghost, but that didn't matter to her in the least as she had accepted his difference a very long time ago. It was something she marveled at, in truth, and was grateful that they had been blessed with him in their lives.

"Mom, Dad, am I interrupting anything? She asked in an amused voice as she cleared her throat.

Guiltily, they broke away from each other, Carolyn a bit flushed, and Daniel amused. Carolyn still didn't like to have the kids catch her making out with Daniel even though the kids were now adults. She offered her daughter a warm smile and went over to give her a hug, the Captain only a step behind her.

"Where is she?" the Captain asked before Carolyn could say a word.

"You mean the baby?" Candy asked innocently and gave her Dad a peck on the cheek.

"Of course, the baby, who do you think I mean?" he grumbled into her ear as he hugged her.

Candy pulled back, laughing at him just as her mother would, and he gave her a lopsided smile.

"You are just like your mother, you know?" he said.

"Is that a bad thing?" Candy's face dimpled into a smiled, her blonde hair making an exquisite frame, her blue green eyes sparkling with happiness.

"No, that's a good thing, no matter how aggravating you two women can be," he said, noting again how much Candy resembled her mother when she was in her early thirties.

"Spoken
like a man," Carolyn said, teasing him.

"Which is exactly what I am, surely you do not doubt?" his warm blue eyes questioned her.

"No, you've proven that beyond all reason," she said softly and reached out to touch his cheek.

"All right you two, enough of that," Candy said, seeing that they were about to lose themselves with one another again.

"Sorry," Carolyn murmured, and the Captain took a step away from her and looked at the baby carrier which sat safely on the floor, and then back at Candy with a demanding expression.

"All right, all right," Candy said and brought the carrier into the room and set it down on the couch. In a few moments, she removed the sleepy baby girl from the carrier, and held her in her arms rocking her quietly. Her parents stepped close, admiring the child. She turned to the Captain with a grin and placed the baby in his arms.

"Here, you hold her for a while."

The Captain, much to Carolyn's surprise, didn't protest, but accepted the baby into his arms with a grave expression, holding her gently but firmly within his grasp.

"Dad, she won't break. Here, put your hand up here a little further, and the other hand here."

He did as he was instructed, and gave the women and large smile. The baby began to fuss a bit and he looked at them in confusion.

"Just rock her," Candy said and made a small demonstration while walking.

The Captain did as he was told and the baby quieted within moments. He gave them a winning smile. "See, even women this young cannot resist my charm.'

The other women laughed as they regarded him.

"Daniel, you're on baby duty for a while, Candy and I are going into the kitchen to talk and have some coffee," Carolyn said.

"Think you can handle it, Dad?" Candy grinned at him.

"Handle it? Of course I can handle it. I'm delighted to take care of wee Ashley," he stared down into the tiny face, a tender smile on his own.

"All right, you know where to find us," Carolyn said, but took a long moment to watch the Captain who was now totally immersed in the baby. Then they retreated to the kitchen.

The kitchen table was a comfortable place to sit and she and Candy had had many discussions, good and bad, there in the past. Candy smiled as her mother poured her a cup of coffee and placed it before her. Candy finished it by adding the sugar and cream in the desired amounts.

"Ohh, coffee, how I've missed you," Candy said, clasping the cup between her hands, closing her eyes and savoring the smell before she took a sip.

"Candy, you're as bad as me," Carolyn laughed at her daughter.

"Yeah, who do you think I inherited this from?" she laughed.

"How are you doing? You look good," Carolyn reached out and squeezed her daughter's hand.

"I'm fine, Mom, really. We've both passed our checkups with flying colors and are doing great. Josh is finally settling down and not worried about every little thing I do."

"I wish he could have joined us today."

"It's okay, he had some work stuff that he had to take care of, and honestly, this is the first time I've had a chance to be away from him since the baby arrived a week ago. I'm enjoying the respite."

"Ahh, men. They do tend to worry excessively, don't they?" Carolyn asked.

"The good ones do," Candy said. She paused for a long moment and studied her mother. The years had been good to Carolyn, though in her late fifties, she was still beautiful and looked at least ten years younger than she was. Her life at Gull Cottage with the Captain had been a good one and Candy couldn't be more grateful for that.

"And how are you Mom? Everything good?"

"Of course, life goes on here as usual."

"I see nothing has changed between you and Dad. Still making out like lovebirds," she teased her mother.

"Candy!" Carolyn blushed again.

"I love when you blush like that, it's so cute after all this time," Candy said.

"Cute? At my age?"

"Yes, cute, and you're really not that old." She paused. "You and Dad are remarkable, you know. Still in love after all these years, and still acting like you're in love. I can't even begin to tell you how many of my friends come from divorced parents, or single parent families, or parents that fight all the time and shouldn't still be together. And here you are, over twenty years later, with the same man, and still hopelessly in love. That is so amazing."

"Candy, you're exaggerating."

"No, I'm not, and you know it. What the two of you have is very rare."

"He's very special." Carolyn admitted, looking to the living room where they both heard him softly crooning to baby Ashley. "It's a miracle that he was here for us that he fit into our lives the way he did, and that he found a way to be with me."

"Yes, it is, and I'm grateful he stepped in to be our Dad. Jonathan and I couldn't have done any better." She smiled at her mother, who was staring at the kitchen entrance, head cocked, listening to her Captain. She noticed a wistful expression on her mother's face, a sadness that she didn't see very often and was concerned.

"Mom, what is it? What's wrong?" She reached out and touched her mother's hand.

"What? Oh, nothing really," she tried to brush it off and not answer Candy's question.

"Come on, Mom. What's bothering you?"

"Bothering is too strong of a word."

"All right, what is it that you're thinking about that caused that wistful expression?" Candy asked.

"I was hoping you hadn't seen that." Carolyn focused on her coffee cup and took a sip.

"Well I did, now what is it?" Candy regarded her mom, and stopped to listen as she heard the murmuring from the living room in the Captain's pleasant baritone voice, and listened to him as he took care of the child. What a great father he was to them and would have been for a baby. Then it clicked, she knew exactly why her mother was sad. "I know what it is," Candy said.

"And what would that be?" Carolyn arched an eyebrow at her daughter, daring her to respond.

"You're sad because the Captain is a spirit, and because he is, the two of you never had a child together."

Carolyn didn't deny it, just dropped her head and stared at the table. Candy got up from her chair and went over to give her mother a hug.

"Oh, Mom. I didn't know you felt like that, I guess Jonathan and I never thought you'd want more kids, I mean, gosh, you had Jonathan and me. I guess we thought we were enough."

"Oh, Candy, the two of you are more than enough. I never meant to imply…"

"Mom, stop, it's okay. I'm an adult now and I know you and my real father didn't have a good relationship, I'm okay with that. I also know that the Captain is the love of your life. I understand wanting to have a child with him. I wish that you could have." She inclined her head towards the living room. "It seems he's a natural despite his blustering."

"It does, doesn't it?" Carolyn asked, brushing away an unwanted tear. "I wouldn't trade him for anything, and it's not just about wanting another child, it's about wanting his child. I knew it wasn't possible from the get go and I knew it was something that couldn't happen between us, but I still wished it was possible…'" she said, tears running down her face.

"Oh, Mom, I'm so sorry, and I do understand," Candy said, wiping away the tears, and hugging her mother. She sniffed back a few tears of her own as mother and daughter held one another.

It was at this point that the Captain entered the kitchen with the baby gently held in his strong arms, rocking as he moved.

"Here now, what's this? Tears? What are you two talking about that has caused these tears?" he asked, unable to mask the concern in his voice.

"You," Candy said, more collected than her mother, as she let go of her and straightened up to look at the Captain. He held her baby girl cradled in his arms, still making baby noises to her when she cooed at him, his presence somehow calming the infant.

"Me? What on earth have I done to cause the two of you such tears? I was taking care of baby Ashley the entire time." He regarded the two women in confusion, and mentally went over the last two weeks of interaction with them in his mind.

Carolyn gathered herself together, wiped away the tears and looked at the Captain. He was everything she had ever imagined him to be as he tenderly held Candy's newborn daughter, and for a few moments she allowed herself the delusion that it was their baby that he held so gratefully and lovingly within his strong arms.

"Nothing, Daniel, you've done nothing bad to make us cry," she said.

"Then why are you crying? If I have made you cry but I have done nothing wrong, then why on God's green earth are you crying?" he asked, clearly bewildered.

The women laughed at his puzzlement.

"Women! I will never understand them," he blustered softly before peering down into the little one's small face. "Please don't grow up to be as aggravating as your mother and grandmother," he said, but then raised an eyebrow and looked at Candy. "I should note that I believe the wee one is due for a change." He stepped closer to her to hand the baby back.

"Oh no, you don't," Candy said, allowing the baby to remain in her Dad's arms. "You and Mom will most certainly be babysitting from time to time so you are going to have to learn to change diapers."

"Me? Change a diaper? Are you mad?" he gave her his best indignant voice but she saw the amusement in his blue eyes.

"Yes, you, Grandpa."

"I'm a grandfather?" He grinned. "Are you sure you want me to be? After all, I am a spirit."

"Yeah, as if that's ever mattered when it comes to us," she snorted in laughter. "So, yes, you're a grandpa, and yes you'll have to learn to take care of baby Ashley. And we can start now. I'll show you how to change her diaper.'

"Carolyn?" he looked to his other half for help.

"Nope, you have to fight your own battles. Besides, she's right. Sometimes you might pull babysitting duty all on your own so you'll have to know how to take care of a baby. No reprieve from me," Carolyn said with a warm smile.

"Blast!" he said sniffing the air. "That is a foul smell, isn't it?"

"Then we'd best get started, she'll be happier to. Later I'll show you how to feed her if I'm not around."

"Blast! Feed her too?" The Captain tried for indignant, but the tone of his voice was far too soft, too filled with love to fool either of them.

"Yup, come on, Dad," Candy said, and with a wink for her mother, turned to guide him out of the room.

Carolyn smiled as Daniel gave her a look so filled with love and happiness that she thought her heart was going to burst right where she stood. Yes, she thought as she watched them leave the room, despite her amazingly happy life with Daniel, she wished that the infant in his arms was theirs, that they could have somehow had a child together. She knew it was selfish but that was her only regret in her life with him, the one regret.

Author's Notes:

I didn't do it intentionally but I realized after I wrote the story that this is sort of a counterpoint to my other story, The Cradle, except this one is from Carolyn's point of view. This story is just what it is, a possible slice in the life of our favorite family. Hope you like it.